5th International workshop on Wireless Network Measurements

Research Article

Modeling Environmental Effects on Directionality in Wireless Networks

  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.1109/WIOPT.2009.5291577,
        author={Eric Anderson and Caleb Phillips and Douglas Sicker and Dirk Grunwald},
        title={Modeling Environmental Effects on Directionality in Wireless Networks},
        proceedings={5th International workshop on Wireless Network Measurements},
        publisher={IEEE},
        proceedings_a={WINMEE},
        year={2009},
        month={10},
        keywords={wireless propagation antenna modeling simulation directionality},
        doi={10.1109/WIOPT.2009.5291577}
    }
    
  • Eric Anderson
    Caleb Phillips
    Douglas Sicker
    Dirk Grunwald
    Year: 2009
    Modeling Environmental Effects on Directionality in Wireless Networks
    WINMEE
    IEEE
    DOI: 10.1109/WIOPT.2009.5291577
Eric Anderson1,*, Caleb Phillips1,*, Douglas Sicker1,*, Dirk Grunwald1,*
  • 1: Department of Computer Science University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, USA
*Contact email: eric.anderson@colorado.edu, caleb.phillips@colorado.edu, sicker@colorado.edu, grunwald@colorado.edu

Abstract

Realistic radio modeling is crucial for accurate simulation of wireless networks. This paper examines the effect of using directional antennas in real environments with non-trivial multipath effects. We find that the actual variation in signal strength as a function of antenna direction differs appreciably -- sometimes dramatically -- from what the antenna power (gain) pattern alone would suggest. We quantify and analyze this difference across several antenna types and environments, and provide a generalizable parametric model to support more realistic planning, simulation and analysis.